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15 Social Challenges AI Could Help Solve

Forbes Technology Council
Expert Panel, Forbes Technology Council

The business applications of artificial intelligence (AI) have been all over the news. Industries from manufacturing to insurance are implementing ways to utilize artificial intelligence, sometimes alongside other emerging technology like machine learning.

In addition to businesses, AI can have a significant impact on real-world social challenges and the potential to bring valuable solutions to various societal issues. Fifteen members of Forbes Technology Council weigh in on how innovative applications of AI can be used to combat some of the seemingly unsolvable social crises facing the world today.

1. Wildlife Conservation

AI could be used to transform and improve wildlife conservation. For instance, AI-powered tools can track the movements of animals and analyze huge amounts of data so that we can see where they go and what habitats we need to better protect. - Thomas Griffin, OptinMonster

2. Epidemics And Outbreaks 

The key to responding to epidemics and disease outbreaks is modeling the spread as quickly as possible and giving last-mile health care workers predictive analytics out in the field. Technology can make it easier to gather large rich data sets that can be used to build models, which can then in turn have a measurable improvement on the probability of survival or quality of care. - Michael Roytman, Kenna Security

3. Conflict 

What sparks conflict? What really makes a comment turn into a violent argument? What's the tipping point between constructive criticism and a war declaration? AI can help solve this crucial issue about humanity, especially in online environments. AI can help us solve the problem at its root, with triggered alerts for people to realize when communication is failing and conflict comes. - Nick Chandi, PayPie


4. Disaster Awareness And Prediction

Natural disasters have struck every civilization that has ever existed. We're already much more suited to deal with these things than our ancestors, but that gap will continue to expand with the application of AI. Huge companies like Google are setting their sights on flood prevention, utilizing AI to predetermine areas of risk and notify people in impacted areas. This will only grow.  - Artem Petrov, Reinvently

5. Human Bias

Discrimination in the workplace is an ongoing conversation. Lawsuits of candidates given an unfair disadvantage based on their age, gender, ethnicity or any other factor are consistently making headlines. AI eliminates human bias and improves diversity and inclusion by offering up only the candidates who fit the job’s requirements and go blind to everything else. - Mahe Bayireddi, Phenom People

6. Bullying And Hate Speech

I'm hopeful that major social and publishing platforms will evolve their AI bots to detect bullying, hate speech and other harmful online behaviors (which presumably violate terms of service) and prevent them from being posted, or at least rapidly remove them before extensive harm is done. - Kent Dickson, Yonomi

7. Universal Translation

Universal translation should be as common as the internet. Fundamental knowledge that is vital to matters of health and public safety could improve much faster once anyone could read the expertise of anyone regardless of the language. Imagine a joint governmental effort to share the critical enabling technology (such as language-specific training data) internationally for the benefit of all. - Rick Nucci, Guru

8. Agriculture

One area AI is being applied where people don’t often see it is agriculture. AI now shows up in everything, from sensors that track the health of individual cows in a herd to fruit-picking robots. As the global population continues to climb, AI promises to take some of the guesswork out of farming and unlock nature's own potential -- enabling us to grow affordable, clean food for everyone. - Karn Manhas, Terramera

9. Clean Energy

AI can be used to bring clean energy solutions to cities and villages. It is understood that energy is not a simple topic to tackle and one size does not fit all. It can depend on the geographical and demographics, as well as many other factors. A trained AI can provide solutions that would otherwise not be recommended or applied. This is just one way in which AI can impact the energy sector. - Alexandro Pando, Xyrupt Technologies

10. Growing Cost Of Health Care

Medical practice today still largely uses a "one-size-fits-all" standard of care, despite differences in everyone's DNA. The generation and analysis of large-scale data sets correlating medical and genomic information represents a prime use case for AI. More targeted drugs can be developed and clinicians can truly practice personalized medicine, delivering better care at a lower system cost. - Rob Brainin, WuXi NextCODE

11. Fact-Checking

In an era of shockingly realistic deepfake videos, sophisticated manipulation of the social/news ecosystem to influence elections and growing concerns about misinformation, the line between fake and fact continues to blur. AI advancements can help fact-checkers with pattern analysis, context clustering and social signal processing to restore trust, quality and transparency of information for all. - Mahesh Chaddah,

12. Mental Illness

AI can be used to identify complex patterns in both processes and behaviors and, in some cases, determine a path to a better outcome. By monitoring social behaviors that have lead to undesirable outcomes in the past, a pattern may emerge that could be used to identify potential undesirable outcomes in the future. This could be another step in identifying and perhaps treating mental illness. - Chris Kirby, Retired

13. Global Hunger Crisis

In general, people waste a lot of food. However, with the global hunger crisis, food is where we can be hurt the most. AI could be used to determine a family's intake at restaurants and at home. Everyone wants to live efficiently and avoid waste, so AI could determine the amount of food you should order or buy so that less of it goes into the trash. This goes for restaurants and supermarkets as well. - Waije Coler, InfoTracer

14. Governance In Dense Urban Areas

Most urban metro areas are bursting at the seams. Every aspect of municipal governance, from transit services, infrastructure management, urban planning, economic development, first responders, events and recreation, requires a deep understanding of people activity and movement patterns within cities. AI applied to big data from IoT grids can provide predictive insights and solutions for cities. - Apurva "Apu" Kumar, LOTaDATA

15. Enabling Better Education

I have been extensively involved in using AI for providing precise educational content. Using the power of machine learning and AI, the platform will give personalized suggestions on topics and areas to focus on for better results and also for better learning. I believe the power of AI can be fully leveraged in areas like building smart cities, educational platforms and other environmental initiatives. - Srinivas Arasada, Evolutyz Corp

